Russia's Black Sea Fleet turns to Soviet-era aircraft amid "struggles"—UK

Moscow's Black Sea Fleet is using a Soviet-era amphibious aircraft as a "key Russian asset" as the Kremlin "struggles to deal with concurrent threats" around the south of the war-torn country, according to a new assessment.

Russia's Naval Aviation forces are using the decades-old Be-12 Mail amphibious aircraft to conduct maritime air patrols over the region, the British defense ministry said on Monday in an intelligence update posted to social media.

The turboprop-powered aircraft, also known as the Chayka or Seagull, was designed in the early days of the Cold War for anti-submarine and maritime patrols. Footage circulating online throughout the war in Ukraine, now in its 20th month, suggests Russia is still using them in and around Crimea.